Dear Jim: I want to install something on my windows and door glass to block the sun's heat and glare, but I want to be able to remove it during the winter. What do-it-yourself options are available? - Robert H.
Dear Robert: There are several do-it-yourself options to improve the energy performance of glass during the summer. With the high cost of heating, it makes sense to remove heat- and sun-blocking improvements to get full ... [full story]

Bend Police received reports of a cougar sighting in a southwest Bend neighborhood both Thursday and Friday, August 17 and 18.
According to Lt. Ken Mannix, Bend Police and agents from the United States Department of Agriculture responded to the area of SW Pelton and McKinley Avenue on both days, and while they performed an extensive search they were unable to locate the animal.
Cougars are tawny-colored with black-tipped ears and tail. The large cats ... [full story]

Amid his rigorous rehabilitation, there's one battle that Bill Torres can't seem to win: convincing stroke survivors that he's one of them.
At first glance, they figure he's a nimble-tongued phony. A good storyteller, maybe, but was he ever helpless and speechless? How could he know what it's like to be half the man he used to be, with one side of his body virtually disconnected from his brain?
"I have to bring along my ... [full story]

Losing a dress size doesn't necessarily make you any smaller.
Instead, it's a nasty trick the clothing industry is playing, an effort to hide from women of the world how big they really are. It's called vanity sizing - aka "the devil" to all female shoppers - where clothiers cut fabric large but label the finished product a size, or sizes, smaller than it ought to be.
Voila, women have lost weight without shedding pounds ... [full story]

Take the music of Robert Schumann. Add the works of Berg, some early Schoenberg and, for good measure, Mozart.
Put it in a blender ...
"And you pretty much get Leon's music," said Daniel Phillips, violinist with the Orion String Quartet.
LEON KIRCHNER - Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Leon Kirchner, 87, served on the faculty of Harvard University for nearly four decades. CNS Photo by Lauren Piperno.Earlier this year in San Diego, the Orion premiered Leon ... [full story]

I'm writing this sentence with my hands folded in my lap. Now I'm twiddling my thumbs. Technology has freed me from the shackles of the keyboard. It's kind of exciting.
Several times over the years, I've experimented with speech-recognition software. The experience has always started with high expectation, and ended with disappointment.
But this time, the technology works. It's cranking out sentences. Subjects. Verbs. Predicates. Punctuation. Be it prose or drivel, it's appearing on the ... [full story]

It's hard to sleep at night when thoughts of Iraq, Iran, North Korea, gas prices, the stock market and retirement drift through your mind. When it comes to investing, there are no sure bets; however, there are ways to make those sleepless nights become a little more bearable.
Dividend-paying stocks may provide investors with solid results and, quite possibly, a smoother ride along the way. An expanding dividend supply is presenting itself when investors need ... [full story]

What would happen if no pharmacists were available to fill your prescription at the local drugstore, or to recognize medication errors in the emergency room?
That could be reality if America doesn't train another 150,000 pharmacists by 2020.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 7,000 to 10,000 pharmacist positions are left unfilled every year.
Pharmacy graduates can expect a variety of possible career directions as well as four or five job offers. Besides earning ... [full story]

Firefighters continue to battle the 4,250-acre Lake George fire within the Mt. Washington Wilderness. Despite unexpected weather conditions, fire officials say things have been going well.
The fire is six miles from the Black Butte Ranch resort area, five miles from Big Lake and 13 miles from the town of Sisters.
“We are going to continue to see winds from the northwest continue to challenge fire fighting on the southeast and east side of the ... [full story]

Steins Pillar looms over the upper Mill Creek valley bottom like a protective guardian. Although there are great views of the pillar from the road, hikers can get a close up and personal experience by hiking the 1.8-mile trail.
Starting in a forest of large ponderosa pine, the trail quickly opens up to a ridge walk with views of the Cascades. Here I met the Johnson family who were out enjoying a weekend hike in ... [full story]